


Cassiopeia

by RosieDae



Series: Chicken Soup for the Soul(mate). [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Happy Ending, Humor, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, i don't even know what this is, well there's some humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 13:50:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7270822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieDae/pseuds/RosieDae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy knows for a definitive fact that her soulmate is dead. Until suddenly he isn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cassiopeia

**Author's Note:**

> Had the inspiration for this while getting ready this morning... Churned it out like butter in only a couple of hours. This work is titled after Sara Bareilles' song that I am very fond of. Hope you enjoy.

Darcy doesn’t know if she’s one of the lucky ones or one of the most unfortunate. On one hand, she knows her soulmate’s name. On the other hand, she knows as a definitive fact that he is dead. She would know, because she learned about him in her AP American History class.

 Steven Grant Rogers, also known as Captain America, was her soulmate. The universe was so fucked and she couldn’t believe this happened to her. She kept the identity of her soulmate a secret to the people in her small hometown in Ohio, partly because because she didn’t want the pity looks, but mostly because she didn’t want the townspeople talking.

 It was much better this way, keeping her soulmate a secret.

 She spends a lot of time weeping for her him and the life she wishes he got to have. She mourns for Steve, because in another life they would have been perfect for each other.

 When she is a junior in high school, her AP class spends an entire week learning about him. She learns about how he sacrificed himself and crashed into the ice. She learns about his best friend, Bucky Barnes. She learns about the Howling Commandos and how he was a blank when he went into the ice. She learns everything about him, and she hates it.

 Worst of all, she has to pretend to her friends that she is fine. They don’t know and she doesn’t want them to know, but when they’re at sleepovers and giggling late at night about their soulmates, Darcy has to pretend to join in on the fun too. It kills her every time.

 When given a scholarship to Culver, hundreds of miles away from her small town, she takes the opportunity. Her friends are all going to the local community college, but she doesn’t want to be like them and she wants out. Darcy is pretty sure she is only friends with them because they were there and she didn’t want to be alone.

 Then at Culver she meets a girl whose soulmate is also dead and they become pretty close for awhile, but then she needs six more college credits to graduate early and she takes the internship with Jane and the rest is history.

 Thor is a whirlwind and she hasn’t talked to anybody from Culver or home in months, some even years. She can’t bring herself to contact those people because it feels like a past life, and she’s actually very happy with Jane.

 It takes her until she’s twenty-two to realize it, but she never needed Steve Rogers in the first place. She was an independent woman with a mind of her own and she didn’t need a soulmate to be happy. She had a rewarding job (that was finally being paid for) and a sister in Jane and that’s all she could really ask for.

 Of course when Darcy finds peace with herself that’s when the universe wants to go and mess everything up.

* * *

 

 When news breaks out that Steve Rogers was found and still alive, Darcy is in New Mexico with Jane. The TV is on in the background, and she is sorting through papers when she glances at the TV.

_Captain America found alive after 60 years frozen in ice._

Darcy drops the papers that she is holding. She puts her hand on the countertops to steady herself. The world is swaying and Darcy is pretty sure this is the drunkest she’s ever felt, and she hasn’t had a lick of alcohol. Jane comes running over then, noticing that Darcy looks ill.

“Are you alright?” She asks worriedly. Jane quickly checks to see if Darcy has been injured. “I don’t remember setting anything off –“

“It wasn’t you, Jane. Look at the TV.”

Jane turns her head to look at the TV. Once she reads the headline she whips her head back to Darcy.

“Darcy, this is great! Your soulmate is alive!” She exclaims.

Darcy is still shocked. She can’t move. She can’t say anything. Suddenly, the happiness starts bubbling up in her heart.

"He’s alive. My _soulmate_ is alive. I’m going to meet him! I don’t know when or how but I’m going to meet him!” Darcy proclaims. A few happy tears escape from her eyes. She doesn’t remember the last time she has been this happy.

Two weeks later Jane and Darcy receive a call from SHIELD, and then before they even realize it they’re on a plane to Tromsø, Norway. Then aliens are blowing up New York, and its all over the news and _holy shit_ that’s Steve fighting out in all the chaos.

Her heart clenches when she sees him gets knocked down, and she breathes again when she watches him get back up. She won’t let him die before she meets him.

SHIELD eventually gives them the O.K. to head back to New Mexico, where they stay for a while. Jane and Darcy fall into a comfortable routine, and the days turn into months. She doesn’t bother going out to meet Steve, because she knows they will meet when they are meant to meet. Eventually they’re packing up their belongings and flying to London and Jane is suddenly in Asgard and everything is happening so fast that Darcy doesn’t even know what to do. Shortly after that, SHIELD falls and Steve’s friend Bucky is back and Darcy doesn’t know who to trust anymore. After an incident with Ian she decides to give up recreational dating for a while.

Then Thor bounds into their London apartment one day, that he has occasionally been visiting when he has nowhere to be, yelling something about Tony Stark demanding that Jane and Darcy join his court.

Jane has to remind Thor that nobody actually holds court in the 21st century.

Darcy knows what this means. She’s going to meet her soulmate. And soon, at that.

* * *

 

Jane and Darcy move into the Tower two weeks before Halloween. She’s just turned twenty-four the day before, and she’s ready for a good party. Of course, with Halloween coming up, Darcy’s birthday, and her moving into the Tower, Tony is most definitely ready to celebrate with expensive liquor.

Tony demands that everyone come in costume, because its Halloween, so Darcy is currently finishing a Victory Roll (which was rather hard to do) in her dark hair. She smacks on some red lipstick, and Darcy is sure she is a dead ringer for Peggy Carter herself. She runs her hands over the brown uniform, making sure there are no wrinkles in her costume.

She’s pretty sure she’s going to meet Steve tonight. She hasn’t met him yet, and she knows that all of the Avengers are going to be there. She’s freaking out, and she can feel her heartbeat steadily rising. Her heart is beating like a hummingbirds wings, and she takes a few deep breaths to calm down.

“You ready, Darce? Tonight could be the big night!” Jane says, trying to sound upbeat. Jane is just as nervous as Darcy is. She just wants her best friend to be happy.

“As ready as I’ll ever be!” Darcy exclaims. “Let’s take a look at you.”

Jane does a little twirl in her dress. She’s not one for dressing up, but she stuck on one of her dresses that she brought back from Asgard and is attending the party as a Norse Goddess. Jane would be one too, soon enough.

The two make their way to the party, which is happening only but a few floors below them at the Tower. Darcy’s heartbeat flares up again. Jane can tell that she’s freaking out, and places her hand on Darcy’s arm. It grounds her, but only a little bit. She can still hear the drum of her heart in her ears.

The party is in full swing when Darcy and Jane arrive. The lights are dim and purple, and music is playing loudly, although not too loud so that people cannot carry on a conversation.

Thor comes over then, wearing tight black pants and a long red jacket. His long hair falls around his shoulders and Darcy notices that his fingers are painted black.

“Thor, are you dressed as Scarlet Witch?” Darcy asks. Jane’s face is beet red and Darcy reckons she’s never seen her look so embarrassed.

“You guessed it!” Thor exclaims. “Look at me, Darcy. I can control objects with my mind!” He wiggles his face and makes a noise like a ghost and Jane instantly backs away from him.

“Where is my Thor and what have you done to him?” Jane asks.

“Is it not Hallow’s Eve? Clint explained to me that one usually dresses up as another person on this night. I quite like the jacket, Tony told me that it suits my –“

“Did I hear my name over here?” Clint interrupts the conversation smoothly. He’s wearing a short but dark wig and has a fake goatee on. Darcy notices that his chest is glowing underneath his shirt.

“Care to explain why Thor is dressed up as Scarlet Witch?” Darcy inquires. “Not saying I don’t dig the black nail polish. It’s just a very interesting getup he has going on.”

“All of us Avengers decided to put our names and hat and switch costumes for the night. I think Thor should actually keep this costume, though. He’s having way too much fun with it.” Clint notes, gesturing to Thor who was still wiggling his fingers at Jane, who look positively mortified.

“I need alcohol.” Darcy says, grabbing Clint by the arm and dragging him to the bar.

She downs a shot fast and instantly feels relaxed. Another shot and she’s ready to party. She takes a seat at the bar and looks around the room. From a distance she can see Sam Wilson dressed up in a green muscle suit chatting with Vision, who is in his own costume. Darcy wonders why he didn’t partake in the costume switch of the evening. Tony is wearing a long red wig and a black jumpsuit and when he turns around she almost chokes on her drink.

Of-fucking-course Tony would make sure that his Black Widow costume had fake boobs in it. From what she can tell, Tony’s already pretty smashed on the Asgardian mead that Thor brought back with him from his latest trip. Darcy is smart enough not to try it.

Thor appears by her again. “My sister, come join in the festivities of Hallow’s Eve!” He yells boisterously. “I wish for you to meet my comrades!”

Thor’s a little drunk, she supposes, and goes along with it as he drags her over to the nearest group of people. When she sees that her soulmate is in the group, she is sure that her heart is going to beat out of her chest. She is so nervous and excited all at the same time and she thinks she might puke.

“Steven! My comrade. Have you met my shield sister, Darcy, yet? She is the one that is can wield lightning. I have told you many stories about her.” Thor announces.

Darcy wants to slap herself in the face. She knows then that Jane has obviously told Thor that Steve is her soulmate. She can’t get mad at Jane though, because she understands that Jane tells her soulmate everything.

Steve Rogers is right in front of her, wearing a tight leather vest showing off his ridiculously gigantic arms. A quiver filled with fake arrows in slung across his back. She can’t help but notice how handsome he looks. This is it. He’s about to speak. Her heart is racing. She can’t breathe. She can barely hear the music in the background her heart is beating so loudly.

“Nice to meet you, Darcy. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Steve greets.

Darcy’s world stops for a moment. Wait, what?

This is not how this was supposed to go. She furrows her eyebrows for a moment and wonders how this could possibly happen. Is there another Steven Grant Rogers out in the world that she doesn’t know about? She was pretty sure it was going to be this one, considering her affiliation with Thor and everything.

“This is not how I expected our meeting to go.” Darcy says confusedly, shaking the man’s outstretched hand. She can’t help but be rather disappointed.

“How did you expect it to go, then?” Steve asks curiously.

It’s then when she notices him. He’s wearing Steve’s suit, and it fits him like a glove. His frame is slightly stockier than Steve’s (if that’s even possible) and he fills out the suit differently, but still looks perfect. His hair is cut short like it was in the 1940s and styled in Steve’s iconic haircut. His metal hand peeks out from the sleeve on the suit and Darcy can’t help but bite her lip.

James Buchanan Barnes dressing up as Captain America must be a sin.

He walks up to them and hands Steve a glass. He has a mischievous look in his eye when he turns to Darcy.

“ _Steven Grant Rogers at your service, ma’am.”_ He gives her a dazzling smile and Darcy nearly melts to the ground.

She can’t believe she wasted her whole life pining after Captain America when this was her soulmate. She hasn’t even spoken to him yet and this feels so much more intense than any feeling she ever had for Steven Grant Rogers. She can feel the connection and electricity she has with Bucky and she feels like she’s seeing sparks fly everywhere.

It’s then when she realizes that her jaw is impolitely dropped and she’s been staring for a few a seconds. When faced with any mortifying situation, Darcy runs. Because she’s a coward and her whole world has been flipped around yet again and she just needs a moment to wrap her head around it.

She runs for the balcony because all she needs is some fresh air to breathe. She braces her hands against the railing and lets herself just breathe for a few moments. No thoughts. Nothing. Just breathing.

In.

Out.

In.

Ou-

“Was it something I said? I’ve never had a pretty girl run out on me like that before. I get it if you’re scared or anything, but I’m kind of confused here.” Bucky is rambling and he knows it.

He followed her out. Darcy turns around to Bucky. She has his voice memorized and she’s heard him say less than two words. It’s a weird feeling. She knows she looks terrified, and Bucky can see the fear in her eyes.

A look of disappointment crosses his face and Darcy instantly knows that he thinks that she’s afraid of him. She’s never felt so horrible in her life.

“I get it.” He says. “I won’t bother you anymore.”

He turns around to leave but Darcy has started talking before she even realizes it.

“ _Wait!_ ” She exclaims desperately. “ _I’m not afraid of you. Just startled, is all_.”

He turns around again to face her. She walks up to him and tentatively grabs his metal hand. So many emotions are running across his face, she can’t tell what he’s thinking.

“Startled?” He asks. “How so?”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be you.” She explains. She shows him her tattoo and he realizes that she thought her soulmate was going to be Steve her entire life.

“Do you want to be with him?” He asks quietly, staring at the ground. He looks insecure, similar to a lost puppy and Darcy wants nothing more than to comfort him.

“No.” She says firmly. “I may have thought that Steve was going to be my soulmate, but nothing holds a candle to the fire that I feel for you.”

He looks at her with something akin to hope in his eyes.

“You’re not disappointed, then?” He asks.

“I could never be disappointed with you.” She says truthfully.

 Do you think I could kiss you then?” He asks.

She breathes out a quick yes and suddenly they’re kissing and it’s just like heaven. Totally not what she planned for tonight, but a million times better.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like! Comment on whether you were expecting the ending or not... Please leave some kudos and comment! Thanks for reading (:


End file.
